Look at the man's U.S. Open track record. It isn't much. He tied for 48th at Shinnecock Hills as a PGA Tour rookie in 2004. He missed the cut at Pinehurst No. 2 in '05, then missed it again at Winged Foot last year. You wouldn't think he would be the one creating the buzz at Oakmont Country Club this week. More than two-time Open winners Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Lee Janzen. More than everyone's favorite lefty, Phil Mickelson. More than Tiger ...

	Elise Amendola, Associated Press
	Winner of the 2007 Masters, Zach Johnson, practices on the fourth green in preparation for the 107th U.S. Open Golf Championship at the Oakmont Country Club in Oakmont, Pa., yesterday. Click photo for larger image. Listen In: Johnson talks about Oakmont with the PG's Colin Dunlap

But you get the idea.

It will become even more clear Thursday morning when they introduce him to the big crowd around the No. 10 tee box.

Ladies and gentlemen, next to play, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, the 2007 Masters champion ...

That makes Zach Johnson a big deal at this U.S. Open. That plus he's the only player in the field with the chance to make it two consecutive majors and keep a Grand Slam dream -- unlikely as it might seem -- in play. Those two things, plus -- and this is really important now -- he's anything but a long shot to win, that hideous track record aside.

You can talk about Johnson's impressive game all you like. He's fourth on Tour in driving accuracy (73.3 percent). He's a terrific iron player, a skill he put to great use at the Masters when he laid up on every par 5, yet still played them in 11 under. And, as he also proved at Augusta National, he's superb on fast, sloping, diabolical greens.

But here's the best reason to like Johnson's chances:

He stared down Tiger Woods on Sunday at the Masters.

No one should be too surprised. Johnson, 31, has done it the right way since turning pro in '98, first playing lights-out on the Prairie Golf Tour, the Hooters Tour and the Nationwide Tour, then making steady progress after joining the PGA Tour. He won the BellSouth Classic in his rookie year. He had five top 10s in '05. He was runner-up twice last year, won nearly $2.5 million and played well -- one of the few American golfers who did -- at the Ryder Cup.

Then came the '07 Masters.

Johnson shot a 3-under 69 on Sunday, holding off not just Woods, but also Goosen, Rory Sabbatini and Justin Rose. To show that was no fluke, he won the AT&T Classic in mid-May, shooting a final-round 5-under 67 and then beating Ryuji Imada on the first playoff hole.

And you wonder why family and friends long have called Johnson "the Tiger Woods of Iowa?"

A lot of wonderful things have happened to Johnson since Mickelson put the green jacket on him. "Maybe a little bit more than I expected," he said late last month at the Memorial in Dublin, Ohio. He did Dave Letterman's show, the Regis and Kelly show, the Oprah show. He has had the pleasure of sifting through big-money endorsement offers and chances to play in Europe and Asia. He even had a street named after him in Cedar Rapids; it's now Zach Johnson Drive that leads to Elmcrest Country Club.

But the topper had to be Johnson's return to Iowa for the first time since the Masters. His wife, Kim, organized a party for him May 26, making sure all of the significant people in his life were there to help celebrate his good fortune at Augusta. "You're talking about the pro who started me on the game, the coach who recruited me [to Drake University], all of my teammates," Johnson said. "That was unbelievable."

So was Zach Johnson Day two days earlier, so proclaimed by Iowa governor Chet Culver during a ceremony at the capitol rotunda in Des Moines. "[Johnson] represents Iowa at its best," Culver gushed.

The Tiger Woods of Iowa, indeed.

"It's very humbling. It's a privilege and an honor. I don't feel worthy of it, that's for sure," Johnson said.

"Part of Iowa is the fact that they just cling on to their own. There's no professional teams to grab on, so they grab on to their own and ride with them. It's pretty awesome."

Johnson will give an update on his game during a news conference today at Oakmont. (Truly a big-timer now, like Woods and Mickelson, he's limiting his pre-tournament interviews to one in the mass setting of the press tent.) It's hard to say if he'll be at full strength for the Open. He had to withdraw from the Memorial May 31 after 15 holes in the first round because of strep throat. He appears to be OK even if he does have a lingering cough.

"Things ended on a good note in Atlanta," Johnson said before picking up in Dublin, referring to his AT&T win. "I don't know why it wouldn't continue."

Look out if it does.

The celebration wouldn't just rock Oakmont.

Iowa would never be the same.